PURPOSE

To ensure equal access to in-class information for qualified MSU students with disabilities.

POLICY

Students must provide disability documentation to the Office of Disability Services (ODS) that clearly supports the need for note-taking accommodations.  Once this accommodation has been approved, ODS will contact the instructor to recruit a volunteer notetaker in the class.

If class notes or PowerPoint slides are available on-line from the instructor, note taking may not be indicated.

Please notify ODS by e-mail within 24 hours of dropping a class for which note taking accommodations are being provided.

If there is a problem with reading or understanding the notes, be sure to communicate with a ODS staff member as soon as possible so the problem can be corrected.

NOTE: Students are typically required to attend class in order to receive class notes.

PROCEDURES

  1. Clearly communicate, in writing, to ODS staff the specific classes for which you will be requesting note taking accommodations. Click on this link for the Note Taking Request Form.
  2. Show the course instructor your Accommodation Notification when communicating about your accommodations for their class.
  3. Tell the instructor that ODS may contact them and ask them to read a short statement, soliciting a  note taker if we don't already have one hired.
  4. The note taker will be asked to come to the ODS office and submit the “Note Taker Volunteer Sign-up Sheet.” The form will provide ODS with contact information and will serve to identify the student who is to receive the notes.
  5. Note taker information will not be given to the student unless the note taker grants permission.
  6. Students will access the notes through Accommodate. With the Accommodate system, students are able to login to their Accommodate account and access notes. Below are instructions on how to access your notes through Accommodate and you may view this tutorial. 
    • After logging into Accommodate click on the "Note-Taker Network" tab on the top icon bar for access to notes uploaded by assigned notetaker
    • You will be able to see your classes listed
    • Click on your class to access the notes for that specific class (you will only have notes for the classes that you requested note taking)
    • Clicking on the documents title will allow you to open the file
    •   Using the keyword function, you will be able to search for keyword for specific set of notes
    • Please note that you must download your notes from Accommodate. You will not be able to access your notes after the last day of classes for the current semester.                                 

      7.   Click on Student Access to Note - Taker Network to download the PowerPoint pdf version of the above  instructions with screenshots. 

       8. It is the student's responsibility to access notes on ACCOMMODATE regularly. ODS will contact students who do not access notes regularly. Services for note taking may be stopped temporarily, pending a meeting with a ODS staff member.

NOTE: If you would like to be a Notetaker, please use the Notetaker Application Form or email [email protected].